When should I replace my Radeon 9700 Pro?

[emackn]

Where does the Radeon 9700 Pro stand when compared to the mid-level, $175- $225 I guess, cards of today? Do I need to factor in a new GPU for my new Gaming rig?

This is what I'm starting with
ASUS P4P800 SE
P4 2.4A 533 FSB
2x 512mb pc 2700
ATI Radeon 9700 pro

Keeping the Motherboard and upgrading with
p4 3.2E 800 FSB
2x 512mb cosair XMS pc 3200
2x 80Gb drives raid 1

Now, I play mostly World of Warcraft these days and enjoy a good FPS every now and then and will definately want the best for Grand Theft Auto: san andreas. So I dont need a Nvidia 6800 Ultra

Suggestions?.. Thanks

 

[Amplifier]

It isn't a bad card at all. WoW will run fine. HL2 will studder a bit on higher settings as will D3, keep the details on medium and you'll run smooth. No current games are going to overwork your 9700pro, you just aren't going to get the eye candy some of us get.

Save your money and make your next upgrade when some new games come out. If you can resist upgrading check around for a 6800, those have been going for near $200 recently in AGP.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

For your pricerange you'd be looking at a 6600gt as an upgrade right now. It's an upgrade but it's not going to blow away a 9700pro really. I'd wait until the 9700pro is more obsolete. It's a pretty nice card still.

 

[aatf510]

I would say you need at least a 6800GT to show you major improvements.

 

[Machine350]

I would wait until the next generation of cards comes along.

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: Machine350
I would wait until the next generation of cards comes along.

EDIT: You could also sell the 9700 Pro on the FSFT forums and recoupe atleast like $125 (I'm not sure how much the go for now adays) and add that to your budget. Then you should be able to find a hot deal or something for a 6800 GT or Ultra. (I've seen Ultra's) as low as $350 on outpost.com

 

[3chordcharlie]

you should buy a new card when your card can't play the games you want at the settings you want, AND there is a card available that can, at a price you can afford to pay, and are willing to pay.

Beyond that, there is no right answer. There is no 'terminal' video card coming through the pipes that you can wiat for, and then never experience the need to upgrade again .

 

[shortylickens]

I replaced my 9700Pro with an X800Pro about 6 months ago.

The only games where I noticed a real difference were:
Doom 3, Half-Life 2, Far Cry and Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2.

All other games played the same, even UT 2004.

My advice is: If you are able to play the high-end games acceptably today, then hold off and save your cash. Something new is always around the corner.

 

[emackn]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will stick with what I have for now and see what becomes of the most recent SLI movement.

 

[lavaheadache]

Yeah, unless you are made of money hold on to the 9700 pro until the you can get the current gen cards @ 200 bucks

 

[GreatBarracuda]

- You don't have to get an Intel processor And since you game a lot, an Athlon would not be a bad idea.
- Expensive ram is not always the best when it comes to performance.

 

[sep]

Well if it was me I would get the CPU and RAM. With the ram I woul verify the memory and baord timings are optimum. Get something that's pushing good timings (2-2-2-5) is the best I've seen and range from $210 up.

Replace it if you can put it up for sale! I think you'd have no problem getting rid of it for around $100 (give or take 15 bucks). Then you could get a 6600GT AGP for less than $100 out of your pocket (give or take 15bucks). Now you've upgraded everything.

Keeping the Sameboard:
Pro - Don't have to reinstall, don't have to install MB
Con - Outdated, AGP, etc.

Replacing the board:
Pro - New chipset, PCI-E, Etc.
Con - Reinstall OS, Install New MB

Now if you said you could sell the CPU, RAM, MB and VIDEO CARD you would be set. I would then recommend a new MB with PCI-E (SLI if you want). AMD 64 3000+, 3200+ or 3500+ depending on your budget. 1GB of RAM with low latency. A 6600gt PCI-E. HD, start off with 1 to keep your cost down.

Sold Items:
CPU ($70) + RAM ($90) + MB ($60) + VD ($100) = $320 towards your upgrade.

New Items:
AMD 64 3200+ ($190) + 1GB Dual 3200 2-2-2-6 ($220) + A8NSLI ($180) + 6600GT ($190) + Seagate 160gb SATA ($100) = ($880 - $320) $560

Too many options. Good Luck.

 

[Heinrich]

I replaced my 9700 Pro last month with a 6800 GT (running at better-than-ultra speeds) and I did notice smoother framerates and the full screen glow effect is more pronounced. I also noticed rock-solid HL2 framerates, it's very nice. I won't say it was a huge difference, but it was definitely noticeable.

 

[VIAN]

Next gen is a good time to upgrade the graphics card. The 9700Pro compared to today's midrange features 30% less performance. Though the 9700Pro probably performs similarly with AA & AF enabled. I still think that it would be better to wait, since we are so close to the new gen.

Your CPU looks like it's needing some upgrades as well.

CPU choice looks good. I don't think you should waste the extra money for a E processors, since it's all pretty much useless. Even if a 64-bit OS comes out now, it'd be a while before drivers are good enough to migrate to the system. In which case, you'll need another CPU by the time that happens. I think you should just go with the good old C processor, cheaper and perform the same, if not a tiny bit better.

XMS I think is a waste of money, but if you decide that those lower times are that important to you to waste that much money. In my opinion you should use the money towards better performance enhancing things, like a GPU or a more powerful CPU.

With the money you saved from the memory and CPU, you'll be better off getting and A64 system, if 64-bit is your thing as it will be cheaper and faster for games - and you need something fast for those RTSs.

 

[carlosd]

The 9700 is still a great card, I would save more money and wyait for the next generation cards.

 

[Mardeth]

Im still using a Gf4 4200. I play mostly CS so it more than sufficient. Ive even played D3 through... If I were you, Id wait for the next generation, thats what Im gonna do. I havent yet decided wheter to buy the new genration or the old, depends on if theres going to be a AGP version.

 

[Munky]

I'd keep the 9700p until you can't run games at acceptable framerates and quality. For me, acceptable means >30fps at 1024*768 with medium settings, for you it might be different.

 

[SneakyStuff]

I'm keeping mine until my system turns into a chunk of melting refuse. Then i'll get a PCI-E system. My only regret was not getting the 9700 pro sooner, I love it!!!

edit: (That means it runs all my games great, WoW in particular, to maximize performance in that game set the terrain distance bar to about 75-80%, if yours was at 100%, and you do that, you're going to see a 5-10 FPS increase in most areas.)

 

[imported_g33k]

Wait for the 6800 to come down around that price range. Only then will you see a real increase in performance. As someone else said, a 6600gt will get you an extra 30% performance increase on average. The only question is, how long do you want to wait? The way prices have been lately, it might be another year or more before they get close $200.

 

[andy nowotny]

9700 pro is still a strong card today